Tie-plate.



' w. s. JONES.

f TIE PLATE.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 2. no xonnr.. l 2 sunnita-sum 1.

Patented April 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIS S. JONES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TIE-PLATE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,467, dated April 19, 1904i.

Application filed October 16, 1902.

T a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIS S. JONES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of'Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tie-Plates; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates more particularly to tie-plates designed to provide great strength with vmuch less weight than in the constructions heretofore used and also to afford rigid engagement with the tie independent of spikes.

Heretofore many different forms of tieplates have been constructed, some of which have varied in thickness at different'parts of the plate. Ordinarily, however, the thickness of the plate has been approximately uniform throughout its entire extent, or if reduced in thickness at certain parts adequate provision has not been made to afford a positive support for the rail on the plate and for the plate on the tie at said reduced portions.

The object of this invention is to provide a plate of light weight and of much greater than ordinary strength and so constructed as to afford large surface of contact and positive support upon the tie and for the rail-base.

It is also an object of the invention to proi vide means for iirmlygripping the plate in position on the ties and to'so construct the plate as to afford maximum resistance against the lateral thrust of the rail.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more fully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is' a perspective view of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken on` line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a slightly-modified form of `my invention. Fig. 5 is a section taken transversely of the rail and illustrating a feature of my invention.

As shown in said drawings, the tie-plate constructed by rolling, forging, or other desired Serial No. 127,495. (No model.)

plate to provide a plurality of' alternately',` raised and depressed ribs a', 01,2, and a3, which extend approximately in the plane with the upper surfaces of the side bars A and in the plane of the under surfaces of said side bars, respectively. Said folds or corrugations in said web are reversely turned and provide approximately flat upper and lower surfaces, affording large surface contact with the railbase and with the tie.

Along the inner side' `of each side bar A at the point of connection with said web is provided a downwardlydepending sharpened fiange C, which, as'

shown, is of less depth than the anges a and also engages in the tie and is rmly bedded therein, as shown in Fig. 2. At each end of each of the said upwardly-turned ribs a and a2 in said web the metal is turned downwardly `to provide a sharp end ange c, which extends below the ribs a3 and engages transversely of the grain of the tie. VSaid downwardly-turned flangesare preferably chisel-pointed and pre'- sent a flat vertical outer face against the grain `of the tie, as more plainly'is shown in Figs. A3 and 5. Saidcorrugations or folds in said web may be of'any desired number. Preferably, however',"they are of such width that ribs a2 and notches into the 'ribsnri3 on 'each `side thereof, thus affording a positive bearing for the spike on each .side of `the aperture of a thickness approximately equal to the maximum thickness of the plate. the webs and number of corrugations` will of lcourse be dependent upon the width of the plate as a whole. As a further improvement 4I have provided apertures through the -up- The Width of` IOO wardly-turned ribs a2, near the middle of the plate, and in each of said apertures a portion of the metal is turned downwardly and shaped to provide a sharp chisel-pointed liange c', corresponding generally with the ianges o and each providing a lat vertical face for engagement against the grain of the tie, said fiat faces being directed toward the outer end of the plate, afording greatresistance to lateral stress applied to the track-rail, as indicated in Fig. 5. Obviously any desired number of said apertures and downwardly-tu rned flanges c may be provided in each of the ribs a2 of said web or elsewhere.

The larger sizes of plates may be constructed as before described, or, if preferred, at each side of the center of the plate a broader corrugation or ribis provided, as shown, in Fig. 4, beneath each of which is provided an intermediate downwardly-'turned iiange O. Said anges C are similar to the flanges O (shown on Fig. l) and are arranged a distance apart suiiicient to permit a spike inserted in the aperture indicatedat D to'v pass between the same near the end of the plate and act to kprovide lateral support for said spike when driven therein. In the construction shown a downwardly-turned transverse flange c2 is provided on each side of each of the iianges C' and affords Vresisting-surfaces against the lateral thrust of the rail.

The operation is as follows: The tie-plate wheny inserted in position to support the rail beds into the tie, the flanges c, C, and C thereof sinking into the tie and acting to material-ly compress the tie beneath the same. Owing to the inward inclination of the outer side of the flanges, the material of 'the tie is greatly compressed at each side of vthe plate. The flanges C C also compress the material of the tie beneath the spike-aperture D, thereby aording better engagement for the spike therein. The downwardly turned bends or corrugations a3 as rest upon the tie in the plane of the bottoms of the side ribsA A and alford la positive support for the plate on the tie,

except below thev upwardly -turned ribs a2 a4. These, however, are also positively supported upon the tie by means of the downwardly-turned transverse anges c c c2, which not only act to support said ribs on the tie and close the ends of the corrugations, excluding dirt and moisture from beneath the tieplate, but also afford an integral transverse brace of great strength, materially stiffening the plate and affording approximately as great strength as would be the'case had the plate been made of uniform thickness throughout, while permitting the same to be made very much lighter. Furthermore, owing -to` the fact that said end and intermediate iianges c c o2 present flat vertical faces against and transversely of the grain of the tie resistance is aiorded to the outward or lateral thrust of the rail imparted to it by the wheel-base, any

outward stress serving to grip the 'plate more positively.

The central apertures and downwardlyturned anges c are preferably arranged to break joints on the plate, and the ilange of each affording a material increase in the vertical thickness of the plate at said points the strength of the plate at its middle part is not materially reduced because of said apertures.V

The stiffness of the plate at the center point, however, is of comparatively slight importance, owing to the fact that the maximum stress on the plate-is near the outer end of the same, as shown in Fig. 5, in which the arrow indicates the stress due to the weight on thewheel-base, y the stress due to the lateral thrust of the wheel'on the rail, and 2 the resultant of the two.

Obviously plates embodying my invention may be made of any desired width or weight of material and by any desired method and many details of construction may be varied without departing from the principles of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. A corrugated tie-plate comprising upwardly-turned ribs'adapted to support the rail and downwardly-turned ribs arranged alternately therewith adapted to afford engagement upon the tie at a plurality of ypoints and lateral sharp inturned anges adapted for eny 'bottom of said side bars.

3. A tie-plate comprising thick side bars and an intermediate comparatively thin web, corrugations in saidv web providing alternate raised ribs approximately in the plane of the top of said side bars and downwardly-turned ribs in the plane of the bottom of said side bars forming a plurality of points of contact with the tie and longitudinally-extending sharpened inturned iianges adapted to engage the tie.

4. A tie-plate comprising thick side bars, downwardly andl inwardly turned flanges integral therewith, an intermediate thin web connecting the side bars and corrugated longitudinally to provide upwardly-extending ribs approximately in the plane of the tops of said side bars and alternate downwardly-extending ribs lying in the plane of the bottom of said side bars, and a plurality of sharp longitudinal iianges intermediate of the middle and edges of the plate and together with the lateral lianges adapted to engage in and compress the material of the tie beneath and at the sides of the plate.

5. A tie-plate comprising thick side bars, an intermediate comparatively thin web connect- IOO IIO

Sharp K ing the same, a plurality of wave-like corrugations in said web, the upper surfaces of said corrugations corresponding with the uppersurfaces of the side bars and the lower surfaces thereof corresponding with the bottom of the side bars, the ends of alternate bends in the web being permanently closed, and means on the under side of said plate tdapted to positively engage in a tie orthe ike.

6. A tie-plate comprising lateral supporting-bars and an intermediate web of less thickness integrally connecting the same, integral downwardly and longitudinally extending sharp flanges at the margins of said side bars and of said web adapted to engage in the tie, corrugations in said web providing upwardlyturned bends and downwardly-directed bends adapted to support the rail and for engagement on the tie respectively, and downwardlyturned sharp flanges at the ends of one or more of said corrugations presenting vertical flat faces against the grain of the tie and acting to resist lateral thrust.

ing thin contact-surfaces alternately in the planes of the top and the bottom of said side bars, and downwardly-turned vertically-faced, chisel-pointed ianges on one or more of the upper ribs of said corrugations adapted to enc gage transversely in the grain of the tie and to resist lateral thrust and closing the space below said ribs.

9. As an article of manufacture, a tie-plate comprising alternate upwardly and downwardly directed corrugations, and a plurality of integral longitudinal sharp lianges disposed along the margins and intermediate of the margins of said plate, and transverse chiselpointed flanges integral with one or more of said upwardly-directed corrugations, acting positively to engage in the grain of the tie and closing the ends of said corrugations.

10. A tie-plate provided at one end and intermediate of its ends with a plurality of sharp downwardly-turned,vertical-faced, transverse fianges extending below the lower surface of the plate.

11. A corrugated tie-plate provided intermediate of its ends on its lower side with a plurality of integral, downwardly turned, sharp-edged lianges extending transversely of the plate and arranged staggering thereon and eachhaving a vertical, flat face directed toward one end of the plate and acting to resist lateral thrust from the rail when supported thereon.

12. A tie-plate comprising thick side bars .and sharp-edged transverse lianges each presenting an approximately vertical face toward the outer end of the plate. Y

14. A tie-plate corrugated longitudinally and having a central portion thinner than its sides, sharp depending integral flanges extending longitudinally of the corrugations and a plurality of transverse sharp flanges extending below and closing certain of the corrugations at the ends and intermediate of the ends. 15. A corrugated tie-plate having thick sides and a thin corrugated intermediate portion, a plurality of sharp longitudinal flanges extending at right angles with the vplate below the corrugations and transverse chiselpointed flanges at the ends and intermediate of the ends of the corrugations presenting flat scribing witnesses. l

WILLIS S. JONES. Witnesses:

A. C. ODELL, W. W. WITHENBURY.

IOO 

